Lions coach Dan Campbell has Dolphins' respect, but what if he had Dolphins' job? | Habib
MIAMI GARDENS — On a Detroit Lions team about as faceless as could be on the 2022 Dolphins schedule, there is one face that stands out.
It’s a face from the past, but also a face that could be the present, if the Dolphins wanted it that way.
Instead, they sent Dan Campbell packing, setting in motion a chain of events that will have the Dolphins looking across the field at Dan Campbell, Lions head coach, this Sunday.
How would it have turned out here? We’ll never know, of course. What is known qualifies this as one of the great unanswerables in Dolphins' history.
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“I love Dan Campbell.”
The speaker, in this case, was Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who said that following the 2015 season even as new hire Adam Gase, whom he chose over Campbell, sat by his side.
“I love Dan Campbell.”
The speaker, in this case, was Dolphins quarterback Teddy Bridgewater on Thursday, reflecting on the two seasons they spent together in New Orleans while Campbell was assistant head coach.
“I’m a huge Dan Campbell fan.”
The speaker, this time, was Dolphins offensive tackle Terron Armstead, who also overlapped with Campbell in New Orleans and was ready to spend all Thursday afternoon tooting the opposing coach’s horn.
“You can ask me anything you want about Dan Campbell,” Armstead said.
It’s that kind of respect and admiration that helped land Campbell the Lions’ job, which is where the reality of the NFL smacks these warm-and-fuzzies right in the kisser. Hired last year, Campbell proceeded to have one of the great introductions in league history, promising that under his supervision, the downtrodden Lions would turn things around by biting off the kneecaps of opponents.
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Instead, the Lions are getting kneecapped.
They’re 1-5 and on a four-game losing streak that sounds familiar to the Motor City. Campbell won his news conference, but in Year 2, it’s time to win games.
“Everyone loves Dan Campbell,” veteran Dave Birkett wrote in the Detroit Free Press. “He’s passionate and personable, and he got a well-deserved pass in his first season as Lions coach last year. But the NFL is a bottom-line business where coaches are judged on winning and losing, and Campbell is not doing enough of the former right now.”
Then, the zinger: “Campbell’s job isn’t in any jeopardy yet. But he better start winning soon or fans and players will tune him out.”
Of course, this merely puts Campbell alongside Matt Patricia, Jim Schwartz, Marty Mornhinweg and countless other Lions coaches. Is his 4-18-1 record more of a reflection on him or the organization? To hear the current Dolphins talk about him, their viewpoint seems clear.
“He’s genuine, sincere,” Armstead said. “You can tell that he cares about his players. He’s passionate about the game. He wouldn’t put anything above his players. Just somebody that you would love to play well for.”
Armstead said then-head coach Sean Payton had Campbell run some Saints team meetings.
“And he just had a way of motivating — a unique way of motivating and getting guys ready to play,” Armstead said. “It could be graphic at times. And vulgar.”
Bridgewater traced it to Campbell’s days as a gutsy tight end with the New York Giants.
“I think that’s the advantage that he has,” Bridgewater said. “He knows how to light a guy’s fire. You know the guy’s not having a good day but he knows how to bring the guy out of a slump just by being himself.”
Reminded of the famous “kneecap” quip, Bridgewater smiled.
“Whatever it takes,” he said.
Campbell’s motivational skills took root in Miami right away. The Dolphins were 1-3 when they fired Joe Philbin and promoted Campbell from tight ends coach. Campbell had players going mano-a-mano in practice. He instructed them to “violently compete” and act like “primates.”
They started acting like NFL players. After four games of struggling just to reach 20 points each time in Philbin’s final month, they traveled to Tennessee and romped the Titans 38-10. Next, they beat Houston 44-26. Although the Dolphins finished 6-10 overall, Campbell had restored respectability by going 5-7, punctuated by a season-ending 20-10 upset of New England that had players chanting Campbell’s name in the locker room.
“It was a different time and place,” Campbell told Detroit reporters this week.
Still, some memories remain clear.
“I’ll never forget my first game out there was Tennessee,” he said. “ … We did pretty well, but our first punt of the game, it was fourth down and I’m standing there like this and I just feel these eyes on me. And I realized that the call’s on me whether we punt or go for it.”
Campbell could have added how center Mike Pouncey diverted his attention postgame long enough for teammates to dump two barrels of ice water on him in celebration. Or how Ross presented him with the game ball.
Detroit is second-guessing Dan Campbell's in-game decisions
Now, he’s the guy with eyes on him because he should have kicked when he went for it, or should have gone for it when he kicked.
“Charisma and sincerity will buy almost anyone a little extra time in a job when they are flailing, but the NFL is a results business, like any other business,” Shawn Windsor wrote in the Free Press. “And Campbell isn’t getting results. No amount of ‘my bad’ on repeat will change this.”
That’s the view in Detroit. The view from Miami Gardens?
“Everyone loves him,” Bridgewater said. “He’s a great guy.”
The Dolphins will tell you they’re happy with how things are going with coach Mike McDaniel. For what it's worth, at similar points in their history, they might have said the same thing about Gase and Brian Flores, who combined to make one brief playoff appearance in six seasons.
Would things have been any better with Campbell still on Miami’s sideline?
We’ll never know.
Hal Habib covers the Dolphins for The Post. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins let Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell get away in 2015
